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E. coli's long gone, but spinach sales are still hurting
Four months after an E. coli outbreak in fresh spinach, sales of that product and packaged salads continue to suffer. For the week ended Dec. 23, packaged spinach sales were down 37 percent from the same period a year earlier, while bulk spinach sales, a smaller market, were off 22 percent, says the latest data from market researcher The Perishables Group. Sales of packaged salads that contain spinach are hurting too, off 28 percent year-over-year to $1.4 million. Sales of packaged salads without spinach were down 7.9 percent to $31.2 million for the week ended Dec. 23. The Perishables Group tracks retail sales at 16,000 supermarkets but not Wal-Mart, Costco or natural food stores.
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Saint-Gobain looks to expand North American operation
It's tough to find Chanel perfumes in Covington, but you can find thousands and thousands of empty Chanel bottles. The $40 million perfume bottle manufacturing plant, which opened in 1999, is the only one that French glass manufacturing giant Saint-Gobain Desjonqueres operates in North America. Now the French firm is planning to expand the plant to make even more of those fancy vials. The Georgia Department of Economic Development estimates that Saint-Gobain's expansion will amount to a $4.2 million investment. Next year, another 35 workers are expected to join the 140 local folks already employed.
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